So stop looking. While Eurovision has been scheduled for this Saturday, May 11, a favorite has been hovering over the predictions for weeks…
Alea Jacta Est. The die is cast. While the Eurovision 2024 final has been scheduled for Malmö, Sweden, during this long weekend in mid-May, bookmakers have been delivering for several weeks a deafening verdict on the potential winner and the country that will “bring back the cut at home”, as we would say in other disciplines. As if it were a sporting competition, many online betting companies (BET365, UNIBET, BWIN, BETWAY, etc.) have been offering punters the opportunity to bet on their favorite artist and country for months. to win the great European song contest.
This Eurovision 2024 contest, organized in Scandinavia, is the logical continuation of the victory of the Swedish Loreen last year. And this was, at the time, given as a winner by the bookmakers well before the real final. This time, the semi-finals scheduled for May 7 to 9, then the grand final on May 11, seem to be taking the same path with an ultra-favorite country, a few challengers and around thirty competitors who must be satisfied with the crumbs.
Before Eurovision, a website (Eurovisionworld.com) compiles the odds of around fifteen bookmakers each year and this year its verdict seems clear: it is Switzerland which should win, with Nemo, an artist. non-binary” of 25 years old from Bienne, in the west of the country. His song, “The Code”, has been attracting growing interest since the beginning of April, after a breathtaking performance in Spain, precisely in Madrid, during the Eurovision “pre-parties” tour across the continent .
Starting with odds of 15/2 in mid-March, Nemo saw his chances of victory rise to 7/2 then 5/2, thus outperforming strong competitors such as the candidates from Croatia, Italy and Ukraine, who were given favorites before him. According to Eurovisionworld.com, he has a 25% chance of victory, a level rarely reached, when a very large majority of competitors (including Slimane for France) struggle to exceed 5%.
A sign of the solidity of the bookmakers’ prediction, Nemo, known for his unique style mixing pop and rap, as well as for his multi-instrumentalist talent (violin, piano, drums), has dominated the predictions for several weeks now. His song “The Code” crosses different musical genres including rap, drum ‘n bass and opera, while carrying a deep message about self-acceptance and the perseverance necessary to live freely.
“The Code is about the journey I took when I realized that I was neither a man nor a woman. Finding myself was a long and often difficult process for me. But nothing is more pleasant as the freedom I gained by realizing that I am non-binary”, explained the artist on the sidelines of Eurovision, who intends to represent not only Switzerland, but also the LGBTQ+ community.
Nemo’s performance in Madrid in early April was a powerful trigger, with many expressing surprise that this angelic face could exude such intense energy. In Switzerland, Nemo had already stood out among 420 songs submitted, captivating the jury and the public of the local Eurovision selection with the authenticity of its lyrics and a distinctive sound. We will know very quickly if he confirms this impression in Malmö.